Roof-covering.



UNITED STATES Patented September 6, 1904.

PATENT QEEICE.

JAMES H. MUNRO, OF NEIVARK, NEIV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN MILTON VAN ORDEN, OF NEEARK, NEIV JERSEY.

ROOF-COVERING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,663, dated September 6, 1904.

Application filed March 24, 1904.

To a, whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. MUNRO, of Newark, New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Roof-Coverings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings designating like parts.

This invention relates to building construction, and particularly to a covering especially adapted for application to roofs, although I contemplate its utilization in any situation for which my improy'ements are rendered adaptable by their nature.

Slate roofs have usually been composed of three overlapping layers, heavy, subject to destructive action of frost, and demanding constant repair, the leaks being difl'icult to locate and the repairs expensive by reason of the complicated construction.

In my application, Serial No. 191,157, filed January 29, 190st, I have disclosed a two-layer slate roof in which by the use of small pieces of slate laid in the same plane with abutting edges many of the evils of the old form of roof have been obviated and the weight has been much reduced.

My present invention provides a singlelayer slate roof as efficient as the three-layer roof and incomparably more convenient to lay, cheap in material, and easy to repair, the weight of the slate being reduced to a minimum, with attendant reduction in the weight and cost of the roof-foundation necessary to support it.

I have eliminated the necessity for thick beddings of tar or bituminous cement hitherto used in attempts tolaysingle-layer slate roofs by providing the individual members with a layer of waterproofing material which can be applied at the quarry, and consequently can have a much higher melting-point, not being subject to the cooling influence of wind, &c., as when spread out upon a roof. The slates also when a cement having a high meltingpoint is used may be heated to aid in causing the cement to adhere to the slates, and this heating of the slates would be very inconvenient, if not practically impossible to accom- Serial No. 199,781. (No model.)

plish, on the roof, but can very readily be done at the quarry or wherever the slates are manufactured.

be illustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawings and specilication and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a roof in the construction of which my improvements have been embodied. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of one of the slates on the line w 41., Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in rear plan of said slate. Fig. I is a view in rear plan of a modified form of slate, and Fig. 5 a plan view (face) of still another modification. Fig. 6 is a view in end elevation of a roof composed of slates of the form shown in Fig. 5; and Figs. '7 to 9 are similar elevation views of roofs in which modifications of structure are illustrated, Fig. 10 showing in plan view a roof-covering embodying some of these modifications.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustration and description to enable a ready and complete understanding of my improvements, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the part designated by the reference-numeral 1 is a rooffoundation, which may be of any convenient and suitable construction, the usual boards being shown; but the structure need not be as heavy as usual for a slate roof owing to the lightness of my covering. Upon these boards I place slates 2 without any bedding of cement, it convenient, but each provided with a waterproofing covering 3 (shown in Figs. 2 and 3) of bituminous or other cement, preferably waterproof and preferably having a melting-point much higher than the ordinary roofing pitch or CGIDQDt SO high, in fact, that it will be substantially unaffected by the heat of the sun, rendering possible the use of the covering in lower latitudes than other roofs with pitch foundations have reached hitherto. A slate thus coated may be fastened directly to the roof by nails or the like a, for the cement prevents splitting of the slate, as disclosed by me in an application, Serial No. 179,221, filed October 30, 1903.

The various features of my invention will When the adjoining slates are in place, the joints may be sealed with cement 5, having a high melting-point and applied with a jointing-iron, and, if desired, strips 6 of paper or the like may be laid along the line of the joint under the slates to aid in retaining the cement within the joint and to dissociate the expansion and contraction of the slate units from the sublying roof structure.

The preferred form of slate is shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and its construction may be seen best in Fig. 3, a rear plan view in which the reference-numeral 7 designates relatively long frame members,of which the end of each abuts against the side of the adjacent member at one end, so that no joint runs all the way across the composite slate thus formed with the inclosed members 9, the members lying in the same plane, joined together, preferably, by a cement, bituminous or otherwise, having a very high melting-point and forming a rigid one-layer slate. A backing 8, of burlap,board, or the like, may be embedded in the cement to aid in holding the slate rigid. Fig. 2 shows a portion of this slate in section on the line :0, Fig. 1, and on a larger scale, illustrating the Waterproofing layer 3 and the manner in which the cement underlies and supports the beveled edgesof the adjacent pieces 7.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified form of slate, in which batten-strips 10 are cemented or otherwise secured across the back of a set of slate members 11, laid side by side and constituting a very strong composite slate, the entire back being waterproofed by a layer 12 of cement, which fills also the joints between the pieces 11.

In Fig. narrow batten-strips 13 are cemented to the face of the strips 1A, and in Figs. 6 and are shown in side elevation and in plan View, respectively, a roof-covering of such slates 14, cement 15 being introduced to the joints between the slates and in the troughlike spaces between the batten-strips. These slates may be fastened directly to the roof, as by nails, (shown at 16 in Fig. 10,) and instead of having the trough filled merely with eement aslate filling-piece 17 may be introduced between the battens, as shown at the bottom of Fig. 10 and in elevation in Fig. 9, or the trough may be dispensed with and the battens cemented up close to the edges, as at 18 in Fig. 10, nails 19 being driven through both layers into the roof, if desirable, and strips 20 cemented thereover.

The batten 21 on one slate may be arranged to lap over the joint, as shown more clearly in Fig. 8, the other batten, 22, being cemented to the slate at a short distance from the joint, and other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.

Having thus illustrated and described clearly my invention and convenient means by which to carry the same into effect, I do not limit myself to the specific'construction illustrated,

nor in general otherwise than as set forth in the claims read in connection with this specification.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A covering for roofs or the like composed of a single layer of composite slates lying in the same plane, each slate comprising a plurality of smaller pieces of slate or the like and each composite slate having a waterproof layer of cement of a high melting-point covering one entire side, constituting each slate an integral waterproof unit to be laid as such.

2. A covering for roofs or the like, comprising single-layer composite slates laid separately as integral slate units in the same plane with abutting edges to present a flush surface and united by waterproof cement into a substantially integral and continuous waterproof lining, substantially as described.

3. As an article of manufacture, a composite slate, comprising a single layer of small pieces of slate or similar material joined with immediately abutting edges by waterproof cement to present a flush surface and forming a rigid waterproof unit to be laid as such, substantially as described.

4. As an article of manufacture, a composite slate, comprising a single layer of small pieces of slate or similar material joined with abutting edges by waterproof cement to present a flush surface, a waterproofing layer upon one face of said slate, and strengthening means secured thereto, the whole forming a rigid waterproof unit to be laid as such, substantially as described.

5. As an article of manufacture, a composite slate for covering roofs or the like, comprising a single layer of small piecesof slate or similar material joined with abutting edges by waterproof cement to present aflush surface, and a batten-strip secured across one face of said slate connecting said members to strengthen said layer and constitute the same an integral slate unit to be laid as such, substantially as described. I

6. A covering for roofs or the like composed of a plurality of composite slates each comprising a number of small pieces of slate or the like connected by batten-strips near but not upon the edges of said composite slates, and cement in the joint between adjacent slates and in the trough formed between neighboring batten-strips, substantially as described.

7. A covering for roofs or the like composed of a plurality of composite slates, each comprising a number of small pieces of slate or the like connected adjacent one edge of said composite slate by a batten-strip, and a covering-strip overlying the cement in the joint between adjacent slates, substantially as described.

8. A covering for roofs or the like comprising a plurality of covering members jointed With waterproof cement, and means underlying said joints and confined to the region adjacent the same to prevent escape of the cement therefrom and to dissociate the expansion and contraction of the slate units from the sublying roof structure, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 22d day of March, A. D. 190%.

JAMES H. MUNRO.

Vitnesses:

ALEXANDER O. PROUDFIT, EDWARD B. BRUCII. 

